Rotary Helps Rehabilitate Dependents of AIDS Victims
Patna: Nov. 30, 2007
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Rotary Helps AIDS Victims' Family
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Photo by Shashi Uttam |
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Rotary Pataliputra, in Patna on Friday, donated a sewing machine, provided an educational scholarship, clothing, and other items to a dependent family of a couple who died of AIDS.
The family was invited to come to Patna from Chhapra on the eve of the World AIDS Day being observed at L. S. Institute of ENT near the Chiraiyantand over-bridge and Exhibition Road intersection, at 5:30 pm on Friday.
The four children of Mukhtar Yadav, who worked as a migrant labor in Bangalore and died at the age of 40 with complications arising from AIDS, were offered financial aid to complete their education, and other necessary items to start their life fresh while being reared by their aging grandfather Kapil Deo Yadav.
Mukhtar Yadav's wife and the youngest daughter also died of AIDS, a press Rotary press release said.
The children to receive the benefits are 14-year old Babita who is a student of Class 9, 11-year old Sunita, studying in Class 3, 9-year old Pintu, studying in class 4, and 8-year old Santu who is in class 1.
Rotarian Dr. Deepika Tejaswi said that Babita had expressed here interest in sewing and making a living using her skills while expressing her desire to have her siblings continue their education.
The surviving children are not HIV positive and need help to go on with their lives in a decent manner, Anil Sharaf, President, Pataliputra Rotary, said.
While AIDS society is already working towards AIDS awareness and its treatment and conducting research to find a cure from it, perhaps this is the first time any organization has undertaken the responsibility to rehabilitate the entire family devastated by the effects of this deadly disease.
"The surviving members of the AIDS-affected family, for no fault of their own, are left in a situation where the very survival becomes extremely difficult. Such people need our help and must be rehabilitated to find a respectable position in the society," Sharaf said.
Besides Sharaf and Dr. Tejaswai, other Rotarians who made the event possible by their support included Dr. Diwakar Tejaswi, Chetan Kapoor, N. K. Agarwal, Vinod Choudhry, S. K. Rungta, R. K. Jaiswal, Sachchidananda, Deepika Tejaswi, and many others.
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